Gender in Early Modern Europe

Course Description

Summary

We interrogate historical perceptions of gender in the early modern era, and develop a critical approach to our sources. In addition to what was said by major writers and thinkers, we want to know - how did women see themselves? Using letters, court records, journals, art, and published treatises, we see women running businesses, negotiating legal systems, engaging in public debate, performing surgery, and creating art. Going back beyond the Victorian era's celebration of women's domesticity and "separate spheres",  we find that perhaps the spheres of early modern women and men were not so separate after all.